Leg Work and Head Gaskets
You know me. I love to mow. With eight acres of grassland, I HAVE to mow. So, when my ride-on mower blows a gasket and billows smoke, what do I do? I hide it under a shroud of shame. Look at its pitiful wet frills. May and June are the months of furious grass growth, and it needs a strict cut at least once a week. It's been two weeks now, and I've had to resort to the push mower. I must have walked a hundred miles this week, and there's still a long patch to be tackled. The push mower doesn't like long grass or wet grass. Kevin's working on the gasket, but meanwhile, I've brought in Alain and Brigitte's big gun to show the long grass who's boss. I think they'll be happy enough with my borrowing it... Was it wrong of me to take it from their home?
Bringing in the big gun turned out to be painfully literal. Kevin showed me how to start it up while we were on the edge of the gravel road. I'd managed to position myself perfectly to ensure that several bits of gravel shot at my legs, breaking the skin, drawing blood and bruising me. One piece of gravel lodged itself in my flesh! But, oh my goodness, it's a beast! It's basic, but rugged. Holding in the engine handle and the move me forward handle require so much effort, that I had to utilise one of Kevin's belts to strap both to the main handle. It doesn't shy away from long grass, and would probably just sneer at wet grass. It has what I call pram wheels, that turn not. As well as walking miles, I am now having to lift its bulk at every turn. I ache all over!
The head gasket on the French-registered car blew last October, so a mechanic came and picked her up on his trailer and took her away. The mechanic was very busy, and the job still wasn't done by Christmas. Last week, the mechanic returned the car at a cost of 30 Euros, as he hasn't got time to fix it, says he. Now, as well as having a blown head gasket, the main fuse has gone. This is because the mechanic allowed a mouse to live under our bonnet for the past six months, and it's eaten much of the wiring and rubber seals. And filled every crevice with poop.
Did Kevin let this appalling state of affairs break him down? No! He bought a copy of the Haynes repair manual (after I tracked this rarity down on the internet) and, with the help of Steve, has today stripped the engine down and removed the head gasket. It seems that virtually the entire engine has to be removed to be able to access this precious part. It's important to remove every bolt and gizmo in the right order, and white nail polish had to be used to ensure bits match up properly on reassembly. It took two days! Can you believe that? Steve has taken it away to the head-scraping man. Putting it all back together is going to take even longer, I imagine. And we need to buy lots of new bits, which, once disturbed, must be replaced, apparently. Things like timing belts. And lesser gaskets.
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| The body |
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| The guts |
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